Sunday, March 17, 2013
The third time proves to be the charm for the Mentor boys basketball team
Twice this season The Mentor boys basketball team squandered 17-point leads against Shaker Heights. Not again. Not for a third time. On Saturday Night, the Cardinals held onto their lead and won the Division I regional championship game against their rival. After losing 17-point leads in each of the regular-season meetings against the Raiders, Mentor jumped out at halftime by that exact number once again - coincidentally - and more than just held on in routing Shaker Heights, 76-56, at the Wolstein Center. With the victory, the Cardinals (23-5) are headed to the state final four where they will play Columbus Northland on Friday afternoon at Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University. It is the second time in program history …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Mentor put together an 18-0 run en route to a 60-46 win against North Canton Hoover Thursday night
When the Mentor boys basketball team have faced Shaker Heights this season, it has gone Shaker's way. Twice the Cardinals squandered 17-point leads against the Raiders. But Mentor (22-5) will get the rematch it craves when they meet Shaker Heights 7 p.m. Saturday with a spot in the Division I state final four on the line. The Cardinals are playing in their third regional final in four years. To get there, the they topped North Canton Hoover 60-46 during a regional semi Wednesday at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center. Hoover led early, scoring the game's first seven point. But Mentor replied with an 18-0 run and were never seriously threatened again. Jeff Foreman led the charge, hitting five 3-pointers in the first half and …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Coach Steve Trivisonno, Quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Wide Receiver Brandon Fritts, Kicker Mike Muzic and graduate Adam Watson were all recognized during the dinner
The Mentor Cardinals may have played their final football game of the school year in November, but they are still receiving awards for their memorable season in which they went 12-2 and reached the state semifinal. Several Cardinals were recognized during The Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities awards banquet Saturday. Steve Trivisonno, along with Kirtland's Tiger LaVerde, received Co-Coach of the Year honors for Lake and Geauga County. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky added to his already lengthy list of awards by receiving the Lou Groza Most Valuable Scholastics Player Award. Kicker Mike Muzic received the President’s High School Special Teams Player Award, beating out special teams players from across the region. Wide Receiver Brandon Fritts …
Friday, March 8, 2013
The Mentor High boys basketball team is one win away from its sixth straight district title
Last week, Mentor High boys basketball Coach Bob Krizancic told his team that they needed to play better defense. His players took the message to heart. They clamped down on South and rolled past the Rebels, 84-44 in the Division I district semifinal Thursday. “You could see the energy we played with tonight on defense, and that was great to see,” Krizancic told Ohio Varsity. “It was a complete effort for us on both ends. We played a lot of guys and had a lot of guys step up and play really well. But the time to enjoy this doesn’t last long. We have a game to play on Saturday and we know it is going to be a challenge.” South -- who had been playing well of late and toppled PAC foes Riverside and Madison to make the district semis -- were …
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The coach was less than thrilled with his team despite a record-setting night
Mentor's sectional title and record-setting 118 points scored Friday night did not impress coach Bob Krizancic too much. The team defeated Lakeside 118-98, but the manner in which the Cardinals won seemed to irk the coach. The team entered the game preaching the importance of defense, and nearly giving up 100 points was not what Krizancic had in mind. "Our defense stunk. That starts with me," he told Ohio Varsity. I have to do a better job of getting these guys ready to play defense. It was a very poor defensive effort. We weren’t tough. We weren’t aggressive. "We set a record for points scored, but it is meaningless. It should have an asterisk by it because of how bad we were defensively." Willoughby South is next up for the Cardinals. …
Friday, March 1, 2013
The team looks to improve defensively after a 67-point victory over Chardon
The Mentor Cardinals enjoyed a 67-point victory earlier this week, but the team knows improvements are needed to get to Columbus in a few weeks. "We have a lot of deficiencies," coach Bob Krizancic said during practice Thursday. "We hadn't been shooting well (before the 114-47 victory over Chardon), and free-throws in the fourth quarter weren't good. "So, we're just trying to improve every game, and when you get in the tournament you want to be healthy and confident." No. 1 seed Mentor plays No. 11 Lakeside at 7 p.m. in Euclid for the sectional title. If Mentor wins, the team would play the victor between the Willoughby South-Madison game. While Krizancic believes Lakeside is better than Chardon, he expects previous experiences to carry …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Cardinals scored a season-high 114 points
The Mentor boys basketball team began postseason play with a 114-point statement Tuesday night. The No. 1 seed Cardinals beat Chardon 114-47 in a game that that Hilltoppers never led besides a 3-0 advantage in the opening minutes. The team hit 16 three pointers and led by 53 entering the fourth quarter. “I liked the effort, I liked the transition game and I thought our defense was good,” Mentor coach Bob Krizancic told Ohio Varsity. “It was nice to get all the young kids out on the floor in the fourth quarter. That’s why we don’t take the bye (in the tournament). We hope to get some experience on the big court at Euclid for some of those other guys who don’t play all the time. And we got a good 15 to 17 minutes in of solid conditioning for…
Saturday, February 23, 2013
The Cardinals finished the year with a 17-5 record
Now, it's all about the district tournament for the Mentor Cardinals. The boys basketball team fell to Brunswick Friday night, 68-64, and emerged talking about the motivation the loss — and missing out on claiming a piece of the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division title — would provide for the upcoming OHSAA tournament. “This is huge motivation for us going into the tournament because we lost the conference to Shaker Heights, who we had big leads on both times we played and weren’t able to finish them off,” senior guard Jeff Foreman told OhioVarsity.com. “This is the first time in my career at Mentor that we didn’t at least get a share of the league championship, and I am sure there will be people doubting us now. So we have to use …
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Mentor's coach wondered how the team would come out following a big loss to Shaker
With one regular season game left, the Mentor boys basketball team is tied for first place in the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division. A 73-55 home victory over Garfield Heights Friday night pushed the team to 17-4 and 7-2 in the NOC Valley, even with the Shaker Heights Red Raiders. Mentor Coach Bob Krizancic told Ohio Varsity that he initially wondered how his team would respond to giving up a 17-point lead in a loss to Shaker earlier this week. “I was curious how they would respond after the Shaker game and we had a lot of guys really step up," the coach said. "I thought Brandon Fritts and Jeff Foreman took over as leaders the last few days of practice and both really stepped up on the floor tonight against a very talented …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The Cardinals lose, 75-68, after giving up a big fourth-quarter lead
The Mentor boys basketball team fell to Shaker Heights for the second time in 2013 after having a commanding lead. The Cardinals were up by 17 in the fourth quarter before Shaker rallied and forced overtime, according to a recap from Ohio Varsity. Coach Bob Krizancic was not pleased with the result. "The only way to categorize what just happened is we were weak,” he said. “The whole fourth quarter, we had weak passes, weak defense, weak rebounding. We needed somebody to want the ball. We needed to knock down some key free throws. "That is a game we have to find a way to close out and win." The Shaker Heights Red Raiders were paced by sophomore Esa Ahmad, who had 28 points. Mentor senior guard Jeff Foreman had 15 points, but fouled out late…
